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Pain and Touch: Roles for C-Tactile Afferents in Pain Inhibition and Tactile Allodynia

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Affective Touch and the Neurophysiology of CT Afferents

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Abstract

In humans there is a positive correlation between the pleasantness perception of soft skin stroking and the firing rate of unmyelinated C-low-threshold mechanoreceptive afferents (often abbreviated C-LTMR in animals and C-tactile and CT afferents in humans). CT-targeted touch reduces heat pain in humans suggesting that activation of the CT system modulates pain perception. This finding is supported by animal work which has shown that C-LTMRs inhibit nociceptive signaling at the spinal cord level, release a protein (TAFA4) with analgesic effects, and have positively reinforcing and anxiolytic behavioral effects. However, under pathophysiological conditions, research in mice and humans instead suggests a role for CLTMRs and CTs in tactile allodynia. There is a divergence in results with some studies pointing to CLTMRs/CTs driving tactile allodynia, whereas others suggest a modulatory role.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Göteborg, 413 45, Sweden

    Jaquette Liljencrantz M.D., Ph.D. & Mark Pitcher M.Sc., Ph.D.

  2. National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA

    M. Catherine Bushnell Ph.D.

  3. Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden

    Håkan Olausson M.D., Ph.D.

  4. Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Håkan Olausson M.D., Ph.D.

Authors
  1. Jaquette Liljencrantz M.D., Ph.D.
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  2. Mark Pitcher M.Sc., Ph.D.
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  3. M. Catherine Bushnell Ph.D.
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  4. Håkan Olausson M.D., Ph.D.
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Håkan Olausson M.D., Ph.D. .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience, Linköping University, Göteborg, Sweden

    Håkan Olausson

  2. Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, The Sahlgrenska Academy University of Gothenburg, Göteborg, Sweden

    Johan Wessberg

  3. Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden

    India Morrison

  4. Research Centre for Brain & Behaviour, School of Natural Sciences and Psychology Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, United Kingdom

    Francis McGlone

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Liljencrantz, J., Pitcher, M., Bushnell, M.C., Olausson, H. (2016). Pain and Touch: Roles for C-Tactile Afferents in Pain Inhibition and Tactile Allodynia. In: Olausson, H., Wessberg, J., Morrison, I., McGlone, F. (eds) Affective Touch and the Neurophysiology of CT Afferents. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-6418-5_24

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